At 342, Mumbai records most Covid cases in three weeks, Maharashtra highest August deaths at 216 – Times of India

MUMBAI: Covid-19 cases in the state as well as the city surged on Wednesday, with Maharashtra adding 5,031 and Mumbai 342—the highest single-day caseload in three weeks for the city. Fatalities too saw a surge in the state. A total of 216 deaths were added on Wednesday—the highest so far this month.
There have been two days this month when the state reported over 200 deaths. On all other days, deaths had been under 200. The city’s daily toll was four, taking the total to 15,956. With these, the total caseload rose to 64.4 lakh and deaths climbed to 1,36,571. Mumbai’s caseload jumped to 7.4 lakh and deaths 15,956.
A senior official said the jump in fatalities at the state level was due to some districts adding old deaths to the tally—Pune Municipal Corporation alone added 50 deaths while Satara district added 34. At the state level, the daily caseload in five of the eight administrative circles in the state registered an increase, with cases in the Mumbai circle rising from 631 on Tuesday to 777 on Wednesday.
Pune registered the sharpest rise from 1,876 to 2,506. The increase in the other three circles was: Nashik from 748 to 762, Aurangabad from 9 to 29 and Akola from 7 to 27. State government officials said with easing of curbs, a slight rise in cases is expected, though districts have been asked to ensure an effective testing and tracking mechanism.
A senior BMC hospital doctor said an increase in daily test numbers could result in higher detections. In Mumbai, 42,723 tests were done to detect the 342 cases on Wednesday while state-wide tests had increased from 1.9 lakh on Tuesday to 2.1 lakh.
BMC additional commissioner Suresh Kakani said the BMC is gearing to conduct more tests daily as the festive season nears.